Portable SSDs have seen great demand over the last few years. Thanks to advancements in smartphones, the amount of user-generated content that needs to be backed up or transferred from one device to another has grown exponentially. While native flash controllers are now capable of delivering USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) speeds with the latest 3D NAND, the ubiquitous thumb drive (called UFDs - short for USB flash drives) has also managed to evolve. Unlike high-performance portable SSDs, these UFDs are merchant products - under blind tests, most users wouldn't be able to differentiate a product in one performance class from another vendor's offering in the same class. We rarely review thumb drives (having made exceptions for the Mushkin Atom and Strontium Nitro Plus Nano in the past, thanks to some unique aspects), but Samsung's offer of the MUF-256DA/AM USB Type-C Flash Drive piqued our interest. Having last reviewed a compact UFD back in 2016, we also wanted to check out the improvements made in this product category over the years.

Introduction and Product Impressions

Samsung's MUF-256DA is a compact USB Type-C flash drive (UFD) available in capacities ranging from 64GB to 256GB. It sports a USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) interface. Samsung supplied us with a 256GB version to put through our strenuous review process. The UFD presents itself to the host system as a storage device, but does not support fancy features such as temperature or NAND health reporting. It also doesn't support features such as UASP or TRIM - aspects that are usually absent in compact UFDs.

The ideal comparison products for the MUF-256DA would have been the Mushkin Atom and the Strontium Nitro Plus Nano. However, both of these were reviewed many years back with a now-retired testbed and test suite. While our test suite has retained the same framework, changes in the actual benchmarks mean that we can't compare old results against the ones obtained with our latest testbed and test suite.

CrystalDiskMark Workloads - Power Consumption
TOP: Samsung MUF-256DA 256GBKingston XS2000 500GBKingston DT Max 1TB	BOTTOM: Kingston XS2000 500GBKingston DT Max 1TBSamsung MUF-256DA 256GB

The absolute power numbers are the lowest for the Samsung MUF-256DA, as expected (the capacity / number of flash dice is lower, and the speeds are also limited by the USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface). The peak comes in at 1.66W (compared to 3.26W for the XS2000 and 3.05W for the DT Max). However, one aspect we would like to see the MUF-256DA improve upon is the ability to go to a deep sleep state. Both the Kingston drives can drop down to sub-1mW after idling for around 20 minutes, but the Samsung UFD keeps draining around 0.4W throughout.

Concluding Remarks

The rapid advancements in flash technology have made portable SSDs into a huge product category over the last few years. These developments have also not left the ubiquitous UFD (USB flash drive) behind. While native USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 flash controllers have enabled blistering speeds in high-end UFDs such as the Kingston DT Max recently, Samsung's MUF-256DA USB Type-C Flash Drive has also shown that there is a value proposition in delivering a compact UFD that exhibits performance consistency without breaking the bank. To achieve this, Samsung has kept the BOM cost low by going in for the legacy 5 Gbps interface (USB 3.2 Gen 1) and limiting write speeds to around 100 MBps. This has also allowed the thermal design some leeway.

The Samsung MUF series of USB Type-C flash drives comes in three capacities - 64GB (MSRP of $13, street price of $12), 128GB (MSRP of $23, street price of $23), and 256GB (MSRP of $40, street price of $40). The Type-C port and compact nature allow the UFD to be used seamlessly with any modern Type-C-equipped smartphone or tablet supporting OTG storage (allowing the UFD to go into a deep sleep state after a bit of idling would have made it even more attractive). The Kingston DT Max is an alternative with better advertised performance numbers at the 256GB capacity point. However, its build is flimsier and it is not as rugged as the Samsung MUF series when it comes to withstanding wear and tear from frequent use. From a pricing viewpoint, the Kingston DT Max 256GB comes in at $47. For the price premium and the larger physical footprint, the DT Max provides much higher burst performance. However, the Samsung wrests back the advantage in scenarios where performance consistency under sustained load is important. It is rare for a compact UFD to deliver on that premise, but that is exactly what Samsung has done with the solidly-built MUF series.